


Nightmarish

by Ten_Petals10 (Rachel_Lu)



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dreams and Nightmares, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Nightmares, Pete's World, Sharing a Bed, Sharing a Room
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-06
Updated: 2015-08-06
Packaged: 2018-04-13 08:26:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4514904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachel_Lu/pseuds/Ten_Petals10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tentoo/Rose </p><p>The Doctor and Rose agree to sleep in separate rooms when they return from Norway</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nightmarish

Rose had insisted that, when they returned from Norway, the Doctor would stay in the flat across from hers, which was empty.  With a little tweaking from Pete, they made it seem as though the Doctor had been supposed to live there all along and had just been on a wildly long holiday.

The Doctor really didn't want to do that.  He'd spent so long without Rose, he didn't wan to be without her anymore.  When Rose brought up the flat, he sent her what he hoped was an efficient puppy-dog look, and while it had swayed Rose a bit, she wanted to wait and let themselves fall back together naturally.

She did really want him to stay with her, but it wasn't what she wanted, to rush.  So she'd insisted on the flat and showed him around it.  It was similar to hers, and she explained that she wasn't living in the manor simply because it was that.  A manor.  And Rose Tyler was not supposed to a woman of the manor.

"Goodnight, Doctor," she said quietly, feeling a little awkward, standing in the sparse bedroom with him.  "We'll go out and buy you some more proper clothes tomorrow, yeah?"

He turned to look at her and slid his jacket off, nodding slowly and looking rather like a kicked dog that had had it's favorite toy taken away.  He stepped towards her hesitantly, but Rose was the first to step forwards and throw her arms around his neck.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her neck.  She felt and heard him breathe in deeply, cuddling farther against her on the exhale.  She pressed her nose against his shoulder, letting her eyes flutter shut and shamelessly breathing in his scent.  It was so familiar and lovely and she felt as though she'd never love that smell more.

She'd missed him so much, and at that moment she was very close to just staying in the flat with him and cuddling him to make sure he was still real, still with her, and still wanted to be with her.  They stood there for so long that the Doctor also thought about dragging Rose into bed with him and simply crying with joy.

"I love you," he whispered quietly into her hair. 

She felt a thousand things rush through her head, but as wild as the whole situation was, she knew who this was.  This was the Doctor, now properly _her_ Doctor, to keep with her and grow old with her.  If there was one thing she didn't want to do, it was drive him away.

"I love you too," she said, quietly but confidently.

He squeezed her a little tighter at that moment, then pulled away and looked down at her, something like awe written on his face.  "You do?"

Rose smiled up at him, almost shocked at the wave of affection that came over her for the man standing before her.  She reached up and cupped his cheek.  "You're the Doctor," she said simply, and leaned up just a bit, waiting for him to move the other distance.

She'd initiated the last kiss, so she wanted the Doctor to decide that this was what he wanted.  He didn't hesitate in ducking his head to press his lips to hers.  It was far longer than the customary good night kiss, but ended before it was anything indecent. 

They separated and murmured goodnights again, and Rose ducked out of the Doctor's new flat before anything else could happen, as it was bound to if they were together, especially under the current circumstances.

She changed into pajamas immediately ever getting home and all but fell into bed, wanting the exhaustion she was feeling to just ebb away.  She burrowed down into the covers and screwed her eyes closed, trying not to think or worry about the Doctor.

It was surprising, with as busy as her mind was, how quickly she dropped off to sleep.

She was awakened in the dead of night to the ringing of her mobile.  She answered it without the caller ID, familiar with Torchwood's late-night calls.  "Hello?" She mumbled groggily and cleared her throat.

All she heard for a moment was heavy breathing, then the sound of someone gulping.  "Rose?" the Doctor's panicked voice met her ear.

"Doctor?  Is everything alright?"  She asked, sitting up, her heart beating hard with worry for him.

"I-I just," he choked on a sob and Rose felt her heart break.

"Stay there," she said in a rushed voice and hung up.  She only stopped to put on a dressing gown before running across the hall to his flat.  She knocked quietly on the door, but the Doctor didn't answer. 

She fumbled a bit and realized he hadn't locked the door.  She flung it open and slammed it shut behind her, rushing into his bedroom door, which was open.

The sight that greeted her broke her heart more than anything she'd seen in the last two years.  The Doctor sat in borrowed pajamas against the headboard of his bed, his eyes red rimmed and filled with tears, his chest heaving.

"Doctor?" she said quietly, hesitantly, since he clearly hadn't noticed her enter. 

His eyes snapped up to hers, looking shocked that she'd come in at all.  "Rose." He said simply, his voice full of relief.

Without thinking, Rose crawled onto the bed and straight into his arms.  He held her close, his face buried in her hair, and started sobbing.  She ran her hand up into his hair, almost petting him, trying to soothe whatever was wrong.  She turned her head and kissed his temple.  "What happened?" she asked, pulling away slowly.

He cupped her cheeks and stared into her eyes as if she hadn't spoken, tears still tracking down his face.  She wiped them away with her thumbs, feeling her heart wrench with every drop she came across.  She waited for him to say something, but he didn't, so she asked him again.  "What happened?"

"Nightmare," he whispered, "And I woke up, and you weren't here, and I was sure it had all been a dream."

Rose felt a crushing wave of guilt at the words.  Of course, how could she ask him to sleep alone in a new world, in a new body?  He wouldn't know that she wasn't there to let him know that this had really happened, that they were together, and this was it.  This was them, and this was them forever, now.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck again.  He accepted her embrace gratefully, holding her tightly around the waist, a final shuddering sob going through him.  He pulled away again to stare at her, to take her in. 

She let him, sensing he needed it, and when he pressed in to kiss her, she responded eagerly.  That continued for so long that both of them lost track of it all until they realized they were both really quite tired. 

However, they couldn't quite bring themselves to stop.  The Doctor's hand crept under her shirt, itching for more contact, craving it.  She sighed against his mouth, reveling in the feel of him holding her this way, needing her.

He flipped her over slowly, giving her a chance to tell him no, to pull away, to tell him it was too soon.  But when she was on her back and he was out from under the covers, she hadn't moved away from him.  If anything, she pressed closer to him, wrapping a leg around his waist.

He murmured long, melodious words against her skin as he unbuttoned her pajama shirt, her hands finding their way into her hair. 

"What are you saying?" She asked quietly as he kissed his way down her chest. 

He lifted his head and uttered another long word before bringing his mouth back to hers.  He tipped his forehead to hers.  "I'm telling you how much I love you," he said, kissing her.  "How much I adore you," he pulled the t-shirt he had been sleeping in over his head.  "How much I never want to live without you again."

They gave themselves to each other that night, not just because of the nightmare and not just because of the frantic situation.  It was because they were the Doctor and Rose, and they were supposed to be together, and this was it.  Their forever.

Words whispered into darkness turned into deep, comfortable sleep in each other's arms.  Rose always thought that the Doctor was always the one protecting her, but as it turned out, she was protecting him just as much.

The Doctor and Rose Tyler, defenders of the world. 

As it should be.


End file.
